As Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh's troops and Sadeq al-Ahmar's guards wage war in the eastern Sana'a neighbourhood of Hasaba, protesters at Change Square a few miles north of the capital are continuing their peaceful efforts to oust Saleh, saying they are determined to stop their country from sliding into civil war.

Senior opposition figures have accused Saleh of deliberately stirring violence with the Hashid tribe to divert attention from a peaceful uprising that is entering its fifth month.

"Saleh is trying to portray this as a conflict between him and al-Ahmar's family when really it's between him and the entire Yemeni people," said Fatima al-Rayzi, one of thousands of veiled female protesters in Change Square. "Our demand and our methods remain the same. We want a new, accountable, corruption-free government and a better distribution of wealth, and we will continue to demand peacefully for those things until we get them."

Others protesters say they have joined Ahmar and his tribe, but only as volunteers helping to treat the wounded in a field hospital.

Huge demonstrations are expected across Yemen after prayers on Friday, after protesters called for a "million-man" march and a "day of peaceful revolution to defy the small minority seeking violence".